


After

by PatchworkIdeas



Series: GatheringFiKi's 12 Days of Christmas 2020 [5]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Happy Ending, Hope, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, Rebuilding, World War III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28074315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PatchworkIdeas/pseuds/PatchworkIdeas
Summary: The World might burn, but they have each other.
Relationships: Fíli/Kíli (Tolkien)
Series: GatheringFiKi's 12 Days of Christmas 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2054739
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15
Collections: GatheringFiKi - 12 Days Of Christmas 2020





	After

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by GatheringFiKi's gorgeous Photoset!
> 
> Shown here with permission, and the original post can be found on [Tumblr.](https://gatheringfiki.tumblr.com/post/637501547039817728/12-days-of-christmas-2020-day-2-bonus-fullsize)

* * *

“Took you long enough. Welcome home.”

“Aw, shut up. I did what I could. You got lucky.”

That much was true - Fili had gotten lucky. When the call to arms had gone out he had been chin deep in paperwork, learning to run their family’s company. They were considered essential, with their acres of land and all they produced, so Fili was excused.

Kili, fresh out of school, hadn’t been.

There were scars where there had been none before, shadows in his eyes that made Fili’s stomach cramp up. But he was alive, which was more than most could say these days.

The war had taken a toll on everyone.

It would only be for the holidays, he knew, as much as he wished he could move the world, keep Kili safe and with him forever. But he would have to settle for trying to chase the shadows away and make Kili smile as much as he could. It would have to be enough. Somehow.

-

When the news came, most people wept. The war was over, but at what cost? 

No one had won.

Fili didn’t shed a tear, kept his grim smile to himself, locked were no one could see it.  
Kili had been one day away from being shipped back. The shadows Fili had so carefully chased away returning with every hour closer to his departure.

He wouldn’t return now. Wouldn’t be going anywhere. The world would weep for the destruction that last battle had wrought, for the millions dead all over the world, the destroyed infrastructure, for everything they had lost.

Fili’s hand found his brother’s, and Kili squeezed back, shaky relieve on his breath.

Kili was home. For good. Perhaps it was selfish, but that felt worth the cost.

-

It was a harsh life, what came after. Fili was lucky, as he had always been, for his land still offered food, his sheep could still be shorn, and with civilization falling apart all over, wild animals returned to the land again. There was no one left to tell him they couldn’t hunt, but he made sure not take too many. It would take a few years until the herds had fully recovered and they would need them in the future.

They occasionally got news over the radio - an upstart group here, an attempt of a government there - and often the story of how they went up in flames not long after.

The cities must be hell, but out here, in the middle of nowhere, things were quiet.

They had people they could trust, they had food, shelter. Fili oversaw the production of everything, made sure the land stayed healthy long term, and everyone had what they needed. Kili had taken up working with leather and wool, ensuring they all had warm clothes and shoes. Some of the refugees who had found their little corner of the world knew about medicines and how to make them, and they had set up their own water supply. 

It wasn’t as before, but it was good.

And if any of the outside idiots, those who shot first and thought never, tried to give them trouble - well, Fili knew how to hunt, and Kili knew how to kill. 

It was enough.

The rules they had grown up with had all gone up in flames, and while the semblance of security they had brought was missed, at least now no one held it against anyone to find happiness where they could.

Kili’s eyes cleared. His smile came back, if a bit more quiet, a bit more somber than before. Fili made it his goal to bring it out as often as he could, and nothing made him happier than the warm smile that Kili wore after their first night, eyes shining with wonder again. They had been bunking together since the end, hugs and comfort and support changing, deepening a love they had always shared.

They would not let anyone separate them again. 

-

The first Christmas after was an odd affair. The religious parts had been carefully stripped away, everyone sick of what divided them, rather than keep them together. Grief lingered in the air, the date so close to the end of the world as they knew it.

But the spirit remained. Love, hope, family - chosen, more often than not these days.  
Those were the things that were most important now. That’s what would bring them into a better future. The world might be cold and cruel sometimes, but together, they would create a warm haven, a place for everyone.

There was a lot more work to be done, years and years to rebuild, to protect, to leave behind the bad and make something better of it.

But they weren’t alone, and when they all toasted that night, laughter and joy in the air, a choice to look forward, not behind - Kili smiled, big and free like he used to.

Things would work out, Fili would make sure of it.  
He was lucky, after all.


End file.
